The Golden Knights will welcome three new faces to the lineup for Saturday’s 7 p.m. game against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place, coach Bruce Cassidy said.
Goaltender Laurent Brossoit was activated off injured reserve and will start for the first time since Feb. 25. Right wing Keegan Kolesar will join the fourth line after missing the previous six games with a lower-body injury. Defenseman Ben Hutton will get his first game since Jan. 28 with defenseman Alec Martinez out for personal reasons.
All three will need to knock off any rust fast in an important divisional matchup. The Oilers are six points behind the Knights in the Pacific Division standings with 10 games remaining, and the two sides play again Tuesday.
“You know what?” Kolesar said. “I wouldn’t want to come in no other way. I love to be tossed right into the fire against a team we’re competing against in our division.”
Brossoit’s start is coming in what he called his “second home.” His junior team was the Western Hockey League’s Edmonton Oil Kings, and he made his NHL debut with the Oilers. He said he was getting dinner with his host family from junior hockey before the game.
Brossoit will need to be sharp if he wants to make his case to be the Knights’ starting goaltender for the playoffs. Right now, he and two-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Quick are the main candidates with goaltenders Logan Thompson and Adin Hill out with lower-body injuries. Brossoit showed he was capable in his first three starts with the Knights, going 1-0-2 with a .936 save percentage and 2.20 goals-against average before getting hurt.
“It (was) tough timing,” Brossoit said. “You don’t really want to sit out at any point, regardless of how you’re playing but definitely stings a little bit more when I was feeling good and feeling like my game was ramping up. Just looking to pick up where I left off.”
Kolesar will jump in on the Knights’ fourth line with left wing Brett Howden and center Teddy Blueger. Right wing Michael Amadio will move to the second line with center William Karlsson with left wing Reilly Smith out with a lower-body injury.
Hutton said he was “itching” to get back in the lineup after being out for so long. This is the first time the Knights will have a defenseman miss a game since the All-Star break, resulting in Hutton watching games from the press box. Cassidy and Kolesar praised the veteran’s positive attitude despite the lack of opportunities.
Hutton will now get the chance to show what he can do against two of the NHL’s most dangerous forwards in Hart Trophy favorite Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
“It’s been a little bit but I’ve been patiently waiting,” Hutton said. “It comes against a pretty powerhouse (offensive) team. It’ll be a good test for me tonight.”
Knights at Oilers (7 p.m.)
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: KKGK (98.9 FM, 1340 AM)
Line: Oilers -190, total 7
Knights record: 45-21-6
Oilers record: 41-23-8
Head-to-head: Knights 0-1-1
Contact Ben Gotz at [email protected]. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.
